Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Review of "Dulcimerica: Volume 1" From Dulcimer Players News

Bing Futch has been making music on the mountain dulcimer for a long time. As a front man for the Americana band, Mohave, he has demonstrated a unique playing style that incorporates tribal rhythms from African and Native American influences as well as Celtic and early mountain music. His technique is equal parts traditional and experimental, with a fondness for playing in DAA tuning. He also plays electric dulcimer with the band as well using distortion, delay and various digital effects to create a sound that has been described as "musical Tabasco" among other things. Mohave has performed at Walt Disney World and opened for bands such as the southern rockers Molly Hatchet and the classic doo-wop group The Crests. That's a pretty impressive resume but it doesn't really prepare you for his latest album which is solo dulcimer with no electronic gimmicks at all. The only "extra" is some fine harmonica playing by Charles Stansell. Bing is a relly fine player with an eclectic taste in music that takes him from "Polly Wolly Doodle" one minute to "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" the next. "Dulcimerica, Volume 1" is a real treat that showcases Bing's excellent playing on a wide variety of material, including several originals.

Thanks for THAT Neal!!!!

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